In the semiconductor processing industry, various processes are performed on various substrates in order to form a multitude of various semiconductive components. For example, two or more differing components may be bonded to one another for purposes of electrical interconnection, heat dissipation, or to provide protection from environmental factors. In flip-chip semiconductor processing, for example, a conventional electronic device, such as the device 10 illustrated in FIG. 1A, comprises a flip-chip 12 that is bonded to a substrate 14, wherein the bond generally defines electrical connections (not shown) between the substrate and the flip-chip. Typically, the flip chip 12 is bonded to the substrate 14 via a plurality of solder balls, wherein the solder balls are melted in order to electrically connect and bond the substrate and the flip-chip. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, in order to dissipate heat from the bonded flip-chip 12 (shown in phantom) and/or protect the bonded flip-chip from various environmental factors, such as dust or physical contact with other external devices (not shown), a protective cap 16 is typically bonded over a flip-chip region 18, wherein the cap is bonded to the substrate via an adhesive 20.
A typical adhesive 20 is comprised of a temperature-curable bonding agent suspended in a fluid-like resin, wherein the bonding agent is typically cured by an application of heat thereto. Such a curing process generally forms the bond between the cap 16 and the substrate 14, however, the resin tends to bleed onto surrounding regions 22 of the substrate, as illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. Such a bleeding of the resin has a potential to contaminate the substrate 14, the flip-chip 12, and/or various other components 24 associated with the substrate. For example, the resin that is bled onto other components 24 may form an electrically-insulative layer (not shown) over the components, wherein future electrical connections to the components may be affected by the coating of resin thereover.
Furthermore, in an instance wherein the adhesive 20 comprises an electrically-conductive bonding agent (e.g., wherein an electrical connection between the cap 16 and the substrate 14 is desired), minute portions of the electrically-conductive bonding agent can also bleed or leach out with the resin before, during, or after the curing of the adhesive. Such a bleeding of the electrically-conductive bonding agent may provide further disadvantageous results in the finished device 10, such as an electrical shorting of various circuits, capacitance bleeding, etc. For example, a bleeding of the resin over a side 26 of the substrate provides the potential for a short-circuiting of one or more connectors 28 associated with the device 10. The connectors 28, for example, may further comprise bonding pads (not shown), wherein the bonding pads are highly susceptible to resin-bleed contamination.
Conventionally, undesirable affects from resin bleed are minimized by providing a large bleed area on the substrate for the resin to bleed onto, wherein no electrical components are associated with the bleed area. However, as real estate on substrates becomes more and more valuable due to ever decreasing sizes of associated electronic devices, providing such a large area for resin bleed becomes less practical. Additionally, conventional devices used to prevent the resin bleed typically require additional processing steps, therein adding cost and/or valuable manufacturing time. Accordingly, a need exists in the art for an economical device for minimizing the negative impact of resin bleed.